SEMINAR: Community-Based Development and its Application to Marine Turtle Conservation in Drake Bay, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica

A special seminar to be held on Friday 1st April, 1 – 2pm in the Jennifer Arnold Lecture Theatre, Ground floor, Zoology Building (South).

Dr Robert James will speak on “Community-Based Development and its Application to Marine Turtle Conservation in Drake Bay, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica”.

Rob is currently directing a volunteer-supported marine turtle conservation project on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, where he is combining conventional research and conservation methods with a community-managed ecotourism initiative, and an environmental education program, to eliminate illegal egg poaching, create local jobs and challenge traditional attitudes. The project has succeeded in reversing a destructive trend caused by poaching that had resulted in the loss of nearly all of the nests left on the beach every year. The income generated through ecotourism is entirely dependent upon the survival of the nesting turtle population and is intended to foster long-term commitment from the locals towards the conservation effort, facilitate sustainable economic development, and further marginalise poachers within the community.

For further information about the project, or to apply to work as a volunteer this season, please visit: http://www.corcovadofoundation.org/

Details of a forthcoming turtle adoption scheme will be announced during the seminar.

Rob is a biologist from the UK with a PhD in molecular biology from University College London and several years experience of research project management. He has held previous positions at the Wellcome Trust and Royal College of Art in London, and has been working as a teacher, researcher and wildlife conservationist in Latin America and Australia for the last two years.

Contact Mr James: [email protected]